Honduras: man who planned Berta Cáceres’s murder jailed for 22 years

Posted on June 20, 2022 by Admin

Roberto David Castillo sentenced for role in assassination of Indigenous environmentalist in 2016

The US military trained him. Then he helped murder Berta Cáceres

A US-trained former Honduran army intelligence officer who was the president of an internationally financed energy company has been sentenced to 22 years and six months for the assassination of the Indigenous environmentalist Berta Cáceres.

Cáceres, winner of the Goldman prize for environmental defenders, was shot dead by hired hitmen on 2 March 2016, two days before her 45th birthday, after years of threats linked to her opposition of the 22-megawatt Agua Zarca dam on the Gualcarque River.

Nina Lakhani is author of Who Killed Berta Cáceres? Dams, Death Squads, and an Indigenous Defender’s Battle for the Planet

The US military trained him. Then he helped murder Berta Cáceres

Posted on December 21, 2021 by Admin

The indigenous activist was opposing the construction of a dam being constructed by Roberto David Castillo’s company

When Roberto David Castillo graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point, the Honduran cadet was confident he’d leave behind a legacy.

“He will be remembered by all as being a fearless leader committed to God, his family and serving others,” read the caption under his yearbook portrait.

Land defenders: will the Cáceres verdict break the ‘cycle of violence’ in Honduras?

Posted on July 15, 2021 by Admin

Conviction of businessman who conspired in murder of indigenous rights activist Berta Cáceres raises hopes of end to impunity

When Bertha Zuñiga heard that a former Honduran army intelligence officer and businessman had been found guilty of collaborating in the murder of her mother, Berta Cáceres, she breathed a big sigh of relief. Five years after the environmental campaigner was assassinated by hired hitmen, this was the verdict her family and friends had been waiting for.

“I know there is still a long road, maybe very long and very hard, but to have achieved a guilty verdict against the [former] president of a corporation, [who is] connected to the armed forces: it is unprecedented in our country,” says Zuñiga, 30.

Berta Cáceres assassination: ex-head of dam company found guilty

Posted on July 5, 2021 by Admin

Roberto David Castillo, former Honduran army intelligence officer, found to be co-collaborator in ordering murder

A US-trained former Honduran army intelligence officer who was the president of an internationally-financed hydroelectric company has been found guilty over the assassination of the indigenous environmentalist Berta Cáceres.

Caceres, winner of the Goldman prize for environmental defenders, was shot dead two days before her 45th birthday by hired hitmen on 2 March 2016 after years of threats linked to her opposition of the 22-megawatt Agua Zarca dam.

Berta Cáceres murder: seven convicted men sentenced to up to 54 years

Posted on December 2, 2019 by Admin

Sentencing in environmental activist’s death comes more than a year after guilty verdict

The seven men found guilty of killing the Honduran indigenous environmentalist Berta Cáceres have been sentenced to 30 to 54 years.

Cáceres, a winner of the Goldman prize for environmental defenders, was shot dead late at night on 2 March 2016 – two days before her 45th birthday – after a long battle to stop construction of an internationally financed hydroelectric dam on the Gualcarque River.